The Kane County state’s attorney will collaborate with local police this holiday weekend to hold accountable suspected drunken drivers who try to avoid prosecution by refusing to submit to a lawfully requested blood-alcohol test.

Additional patrol officers will be specifically assigned Friday and Saturday evenings to search for erratic drivers who might be intoxicated. In addition, a streamlined process will be in place for authorities to obtain a search warrant for a blood sample if an alleged drunken driver refuses a test to determine the alcohol concentration of their blood, breath or urine.

Kane County State’s Attorney John Barsanti will not reveal the location or locations of this weekend’s operation in an attempt to deter holiday revelers across the county from drinking and driving.

This will be the third no-refusal weekend in Kane County in the past 14 months.

On Memorial Day weekend 2008, officers patrolling in the Tri-Cities found 14 motorists who were charged with driving under the influence of alcohol as part of the operation. Four warrants were served. All but one submitted to the tests.

During an operation conducted St. Patrick’s Day weekend this year, three drivers were charged with DUI. All submitted to tests, one after being served with a warrant.

Alcohol is a major factor in fatal crashes during the Fourth of July holiday, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In 2007, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 34 percent of all drivers involved in car crashes during the holiday had a blood-alcohol level of .08 or higher.

Of the 200 traffic-related fatalities reported during the holiday that year, 44 percent involved a drunken driver.

 Overall in 2007, 41,059 people were killed in car crashes, about 32 percent of which involved drunken drivers.

Those numbers are expected to be higher this year because Fourth of July is a Saturday as part of a three-day weekend for many people, authorities said.

For the past several years, approximately 50,000 motorists each year are cited for DUI, according to the Illinois secretary of state’s office. Of those, about 40 percent, refuse to submit to a blood-alcohol test, denying the state lawfully allowed evidence needed to prosecute a criminal case.

The operation is funded by a grant from the Kane County DUI Task Force.